2025 / 22' / Punjabi, Hindi, English, Flemish, French / India, Belgium, Portugal, Hungary
✦ Shorts
Set in a backdrop of mass emigration from India, 'Happy,' an undocumented Indian immigrant, lives and works in a dimly lit night shop in Brussels. He strives to secure a bright future for his wife and daughter back home. But, the ever-present threat of discovery and his longing for his beloved family threaten his daily life.
Director(s) : Siddhant Sarin
Producer(s) : Siddhant Sarin
Cinematographer(s) : Siddhant Sarin
Writer(s) : Siddhant Sarin
Editor(s) : Siddhant Sarin
Cast : Happy Singh
Sound : Masha Ivashchenko
Co-founder of Docustan, Siddhant Sarin is a national award-winning filmmaker & educator from India whose films explore the quotidian lives of people through observational methods traversing the interplay between individuals' internal and external worlds.
He has received support from the Asian Cinema Fund (Busan), Doc Edge, EIDF, and the Lithuanian Film Centre for his national award-winning film Ayena (Mirror). His films Ayena (Mirror), Mum, and A Happy Place have earned acclaim at film festivals worldwide.
He represents his production company Téh Films, which brought together the world's first Indian–Lithuanian–South Korean co-production team for his debut feature Ayena (Mirror), which is now showcased on Channel 4 (UK), Asian Docs (Japan), and DAFilms worldwide.
He is also the editor of As Light as Air, which competed in the Semaine De La Critique section at the Locarno Film Festival and also edited See Me, When you Leave which premiered at DIFF. He has co-produced another national award winning film titled Bhangaar (Obsolete). A scholarship graduate of the Doc Nomads Master's Program, he previously studied cinematography at DFFB (Berlin) and FAMU (Prague). He envisions author-driven works that are both reflective and socially resonant.
